How will Luke explain himself?? Next update is Sunday.
~Harlow’s Point of View~What a fool I am! For the second time Luke has left me and I should do the same. I should use the packhouse phone and call for a witch to zap me into another time zone. Hell I don’t even know where the Shadow Warriors headquarters is, and I’m sure that’s how they want to keep it. Could be in another realm for all I know.Is that a thing?? Put that away for another day.I throw myself into my room and lock the door, fuming. I stare at the handle, practically daring it to open. The wait isn’t long, and there’s a knock. There’s not a doubt in my mind it's Luke, and I turn to look at the window as a possibility of fleeing. But I’m on the second floor and that doesn’t seem like an appealing escape plan.My hand rubs my belly absentmindedly as I hear feet shuffling. “Can we please talk,” Luke says, his voice low. I scoff.“Why, so you can lie to me? Make up something to justify you being so weird? Or tell me you have a girlfriend back at home,” I snap, and cross my
~Harlow’s Point of View~“Could there possibly be anything more boring,” I whine, propping my elbow on my knee and dropping my chin into my hand. Luke gives me a knowing look, equally as bored. The cheerleaders are half dressed, and I do all I can not to look at them. I notice Luke isn’t the least phased by them and that turns me on to no end. He doesn’t even look twice at any other female out here and he keeps holding my hand which I love a bit too much. “I might have asked you to go under these benches so I could sneak a kiss but I just watched someone dump a large cup of liquid through the floor. Why on earth would one do that,” he asks, and I let out a sarcastic laugh.“People are wasteful and stupid,” I answer, and mean it. My fingers twitch at his mention of kissing, and I wonder what he’d do if I just grabbed his face out here and--“So am I to understand that they all just chase a ball and hit each other over it? But they’re not allowed to actually injure the other? There are
~Tate’s Point of View~“This place reeks,” I whisper, irritated. It’s been far too long already that I’ve been stuck with Megan, and I’m eager to cut out her tongue.“Smells like real men,” she taunts, licking her lips. *If real men smell like armpits and cigarettes,* Colt whines, turning up his nose.We had to make camp in the woods and lie low, waiting for a chance to even get into the damn Hair of the Dog. It may be a bar, but that doesn’t mean just anyone is allowed in. Chance had made it seem like we could just walk on by, but that wasn’t at all the case. So we had to get in with someone who could get us invited. But it helped calm my nerves in a way too; I never once saw the male who’d saved Harlow. Maybe he really had left town.But camping in the woods with my ex that still hasn’t gotten it through her thick skull that I hate her is literally the most exhausting thing I’ve ever done. There was a time having her all over me made me feel invincible, made me empowered. Now I wish
~Tate’s Point of View~The next morning when we return to the Hair of the Dog, Trek isn’t even there. It’s just the bartender. He gives us another map, and again we go and find the packages like good little minions. By the time we’re making the last pick up, I’m nearly coming out of my skin.*Tate you in range,* I hear, as I jump down from a tree. Megan shifted to go on a quick hunt, but I was trying to hold out for something to eat later.*Yeah Shane go ahead,* I reply, over mind-link.I’m relieved to hear his voice honestly, anyone but Megan. I listen patiently as he relays some updates from the others that are undercover. He mentions there’s still no sign of the bar owner, and they believe there may be some sort of mutiny going on. I tell him things seem relatively normal at the Hair, at least there’s nothing strange on the surface. Just drug dealers, drunks getting into fights and strippers, all which we expected.I find it very hard to believe that Trek could overthrow anyone’s po
~Harlow’s Point of View~The heart in my chest thuds loudly all the way to my ears as my brain runs through every emotion. Pity for myself at being so naive, anger at him for leading me on.No, this simply can’t be right! There was something real between us, something intense and passionate. His eyes, the way he looked at me, the way he felt. The way his wolf was with me. It was all a lie?? Months and months of his smiles, his attention. Months of unspoken lust. How many damn nights did I touch myself thinking about Tate? While what??? He was with some other female?!“Son of a bitch,” I whisper, as a lonely tear falls down my cheek. I put my hand over my belly, and silently apologize to Bunny. Tate would have absolutely been an amazing father. I’m literally so mad I can’t move. It’s as if I fall into a weird trance, and everything around me carries on. But I can’t budge. How long I stay like that, I just don’t know. But when I blink again, it’s dark and my bladder gets my attention.
~Tyson’s Point of View~“Uhh, something I said,” I ask, turning back to River. He shrugs.“Grab our stuff and head inside, I’ll talk to her. Teenagers huh,” he offers and I nod. My wolf Axel stirs in my head, as he recalls the night we investigated Harlow’s brutal case. I’m hardly offended that she doesn’t remember me, I don’t think she ever looked up from her little cocoon. She was basically catatonic. But maybe she spoke to Tate then? There’s no chance he would have offended her, he’s extremely professional and out of all my children, has by far the best manners.“Kids,” I mutter, then make my way into the house.It’s well over an hour before they come in, and by then I’ve got a tray of meats, cheeses and fruit waiting. They both make a plate and come to sit with me in the living room.My mate will be home late, she’s off helping with one of our grandpups tonight and I simply needed a break from reality. The beach house offers that in spades. Unless you have guests randomly show up
~Luke’s Point of View~“You’re certain she’s back,” I ask, practically coming out of my skin as I interrogate Penelope. She makes a face and throws herself on the couch, then puts her feet up.“If by certain you mean that I was literally standing there as she was teleported in and I mind-linked Jasmine about it as I’ve explained twice already? Angel gave us all clear orders where Harlow is concerned and you absolutely cannot let on to her that you’re a Shadow. It’ll blow our cover here…” she whines, then picks up a magazine to read. I push out a hot breath as my fingers twitch, desperate to go to my sunflower. Fuck it, I won’t be able to sleep unless I see her safe for myself. It's been two nights since I’ve seen her, and Dante is positively beside himself as well. Waiting until the morning to see her at school seems like an eternity.“Luke! Leave her be! It doesn’t matter why she went off with that male, she did it voluntarily,” Penelope shouts, as I dash out of the house.Minutes l
~Luke’s Point of View~I lazily play with the red strap half falling off her shoulder with one hand, and carefully stroke her loose breast with the other as her hand runs up and down my length. I hiss and move to pull away, but she moves with me.“Believe me when I tell you I’d love nothing more than to make you forget your name. I don’t have one of those rubber things,” I say, and loathe how dumb I sound. The old Luc wouldn’t give a damn about such things because the female he’d bed wouldn’t make it to see another morning.Harlow starts to laugh, and just like that my hard dick goes limp. I’m not entirely sure I’ve ever had a female laugh at me. She flicks her hair back and my eyes stay fixed on her breasts as they move and my dick twitches with life.*She’s allowed to laugh, hell anything, anything she wants,* Dante quickly says, before I can read too much into it.“Well plan better next time you come to my room at night all sneaky,” she teases, turning to prop herself on her elbow.
~The Next Day~~The Meadows Asylum~~Rowan’s Point of View~“Hmm green gelatin again, oh you do spoil me Dottie,” I tease, making eyes at the old nurse. She blushes and turns back to her trays, then her bodyguard Sven growls down at me. He’s practically a viking giant. I’m a big guy but anyone is a dwarf next to that mountain. I take my tray from the door hatch that he promptly slams. Since the door isn’t see through, I stick my tongue out at him.Sighing, I sit at my makeshift desk and eye my dinner. A scream distracts me from my tasteless food and while my eyes dart in that direction, I don’t actually move my head. His name is Ulrich, at least I think from hearing Sven yell at him. The male chewed off his tongue a few weeks back. Nasty business. After the bland meal, I lay down on my hard cot and wonder if today’s the day I just say “fuck it” and make my escape. It wouldn’t be too hard for a creature such as me. But if I’m caught, the repercussions wouldn’t be pretty. If… I’m cau
~Tate’s Point of View~*Go, go go,* I yell, over mind-link. Colt pushes his paws into the earth hard, with all he’s got as he runs toward the fight.Undercover or not, our orders are always to protect the innocent. Protect life. We haven’t even been allowed in The Hair of The Dog for a couple days, and we don’t know why. They shut it down, and it's been completely empty. It’s like everyone just vanished in the wind. But Shane won’t pull us off the assignment, and won’t explain why.*On your left,* Megan shouts, as a rogue wolf leaps right at me, narrowly missing as I duck down. Colt lands and turns for a split second to see Megan landing on him, her canines then chomping right into his gut. Colt spins back to the side, as I see a door throw open about fifty feet away. A male in a suit leaps forward, eyes black and clearly ready to shift, or at least wanting to. My brain senses a mind-link from him, and that can’t be right. If a person is known to you, like you share a pack or in our
~Harlow’s Point of View~“Are you blind? I can’t dance, haven’t I embarrassed us both enough already,” I laugh, as Luke takes my hands in his. He’s so warm, and so confident that I feel his energy coursing through me. Almost as if he gives me life. And could there possibly be anything sexier than the fact that his eyes have only been for me tonight? He literally hasn’t looked at another female except for Penelope or Anna.He’s been utterly incredible tonight, though I can tell he’d rather be anywhere else. Cause I feel the same way. In the sheets would be much better!“Well we should have just done this from the start,” he says, with complete confidence. He quickly squats down, and steals away my shoes. I giggle in confusion, as he leaves them on a chair. “Stand on my feet, and I’ll whisk you around beautiful,” he says, with conviction. I lift my dress, trying to even find my feet. Once situated, we begin to move and I have so many questions. How does he know how to do this? Where in
~Night of the School Dance~~Luke’s Point of View~“Thank you for this, I sure as hell wasn’t about to let Sunny dress me and I didn’t dare ask Godfrey for money. He’d want to interrogate every penny and know what it was for. Hell, he’d likely show up and make the night about himself,” I say, pulling on my suit jacket. Of course I could claim going to the school dance is necessary, I mean it is in a way. Part of being a high schooler I imagine. “Pffft. Bro, Sunny has always considered herself a fashionista, but she’s not even close. And yes, they would show up, both of them. You don’t need that. River said they both gave Harlow a scare not too long ago so they definitely don’t need to be around,” Skylar says, holding up a few different tie options. Harlow mentioned her dress was a deep navy and silver so I point to the dark blue. “They did what,” I snap, remembering the triplets saying that Harlow comes to headquarters for her baby appointments. I may need to find out when those ar
~Harlow’s Point of View~My eyes wander between Diana and Ben, waiting for them to ask who the father of the baby is, and why he isn’t here. But Diana is busy, fumbling in her bag and finding a book then flipping through it.“Ahh! Hmmhmm,” she says, after a quick read.“Hit the lights and set the mood so Ben can begin his spell,” she says, but doesn’t look up. Skylar does as she asked but thankfully leaves a light in the kitchen for me to have some vision. I draw a deep inhale and catch the various herbs she’s placed around me. And honestly, they are relaxing. I wait patiently while she fastens her hair back and adjusts her dress. “Okay, I’m going to levitate over you, so you can watch my eyes, don’t freak out. I won’t fall on you. Once you’re deep in the trance I’ll go back to my seat. I’m going to work to get you there, but once you are, Ben is going to be able to kind of follow along with you, see what you see. Though it won’t be as vivid, he’ll sort of share in your experience.
~Two Nights Later~~Harlow’s Point of View~“I can’t believe I agreed to this,” I whisper, fidgeting with the hem of my shirt. “Well she’s already on her way, and not someone I’d care to piss off so looks like we’re doing it,” Lilly says, putting her hands on her hips and looming over me.All three of her mates are around their house, and three of their children are on patrols outside. It seems with the Blacks, being a Shadow is a family affair. So I’m perfectly safe here, nothing to worry about. It’s totally normal to invite a vampire and a warlock over for a chit chat. A vamp that’s… how old? Two thousand years?? Fuck, what does that even mean? I can’t even begin to wrap my head around it.“She’s very tame about blood due to her age, she’s well adjusted. But she’ll need to taste you. You should be aware that will allow Diana to have a blood bond with you. It’s almost like a signal, she can find you. Just a few drops it wouldn’t be that obvious, but the more frequently she does it,
~Anna’s Point of View~What in the stupid human is this little girl doing?I scowl as I watch the little redheaded Harlow from high on a tree branch. She makes pretty dumb decisions, and if not for her looks I’m not entirely sure what Luke sees in her. But I truly don’t take him to be that shallow of a male. There has to be more to this story.I teleport from place to place around the forest as I follow her, trying to keep my distance but also never letting her out of my sight. Babysitting is so not my thing, but Shane insisted Luke was far too close to her and needed to cool off.That won’t last. It’s obvious the male is bat shit crazy for her. A little red riding hood wolf basically. How fucking charming. I could kill the council for pulling me off my overseas mission for this backwoods nonsense. But I’m here, so I’m doing this.My body freezes when Harlow looks around, having heard the wind blowing some leaves and making a rustling sound. It wasn’t me! I’m too good at this.When I r
~Harlow’s Point of View~~A Week Later~Sweat prickles my entire body, making me thrash around. I know I’m dreaming, but I just can’t seem to wake up. There’s a fire and all I want to do is get away from the intensity of the heat, but I can’t budge. My mind says it isn’t real, but the urgency my body feels says otherwise. A male figure calls out to me from the shadows, and he’s familiar. I yell for him, and when I feel his hands on me, I search for his face. Suddenly my legs are free, then the air is cleaner. I cough to rid my lungs of the smoke but it burns so bad. “Daddy,” I cry out, as I’m put down on the hard ground. The jolt of it makes me choke, and when I draw a deep inhale, it doesn’t burn because the air out here is clean.My body jerks upright as I continue to try and gasp, and get all the air I can. My eyes dart around my bedroom, in the familiar Dark Thunder packhouse. There’s only a faint light from outside as the sun is still trying to rise. I close my eyes and hold my
~Harlow’s Point of View~Suddenly all I can think about is getting to headquarters, getting answers from River or someone. And I have to come clean, I have to--No. No, no. The bar! I need to go by the bar and demand answers. That's my first priority.“And you? You’re Harlow,” the giant mountain of a male shouts, making me jerk upright in full attention. Because well, he sounds like he should have a whistle and be yelling at me to do push ups. The few close by practically part in unison as he stalks toward me. I gulp and push myself off the table and to my feet.“Uhm, yes,” I say, tentatively. “In private, now,” he snaps, making me jump. Out of nowhere, Penelope seems to appear, and I swear she hadn’t been there before.“I’ll go with you. Because… of course you’ll need someone you know with you,” she mumbles, but she brushes past the guy without any fear. I look up to see Beta Ryan only a few steps away, clearly fuming.Penelope leads us to the far side of the packhouse and away from